Jul 31, 2012

China - Foreigners Getting the Beijing Brush Off

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Foreign devils under the fist?

As tensions rise between Beijingers and expats, Chinese xenophobia comes into focus

“What are they saying about us?” a diner is overheard wondering as he looks over at a group of Western tourists. “Foreigners never say anything good about China,” grumbles one companion.

Outside a lively barbecue restaurant in central Beijing, their conversation turns to a current propaganda campaign, invoking the so-called Beijing Spirit – “Patriotism, Innovation, Virtue, Inclusiveness.” Here, the platitudes are invoked approvingly, particularly the latter. Beijingers, they agree, are quite friendly.

Lately, there is a growing undercurrent of wariness directed at foreigners in China, typified by a government campaign in Beijing that urges people to report foreigners for the “Three Illegals” illegal entry, overstayed visas, and working without a permit.

Or there’s the CCTV presenter Yang Rui, who showed support for the crackdown with a bizarre online outburst in which he cursed mysterious foreign “snake heads,” who dupe innocent local women into bed, while really acting as secret GPS-wielding spies.

Then came the recent news that a US tourist, Howard Thomas Mills, had been stabbed to death in Qianmen, near Tiananmen Square. Weeks earlier, an American was knifed in the same area (in the buttocks, to be exact) by a man apparently seeking to bring attention to himself. The incident recalled the shocking 2008 murder of Todd Bachman, an American tourist, at the 13th century Drum Tower just hours after the opening Olympic Games ceremony, who was stabbed by a man who appeared distraught and may have had some unspecified grudge against society. It seems in China, if you have a grievance it pays to stab a foreigner: people will notice.

Whatever their reasons, these events challenge perceptions of a city famous for being safe, secure and full of smiles. “Beijing Welcomes You,” the capital told its Olympics tourists, and it still does – but for how long?

The immediate cause of the current frosting in relations seems to be a pair of videos depicting foreigners behaving badly towards Chinese, which surfaced in May. Although a link between the footage, which provoked fury and debate, and the ensuing police campaign has been formally denied, officers in conversation have openly acknowledged otherwise.

Long-term Beijing resident, and co-founder of the human resources website Zhaopin.com, Stephen Chiu, agrees that recent crackdowns on visa regulations are unsettling. They “are constant reminders that you are a stranger in a strange land and always will be,” he said. “For many of my long-term foreign friends, it's things like this that push them over the limit… There have been far too many farewells this summer.”

May’s viral video depicting locals beating up a sexually aggressive Briton under the title “Foreigner, We’re Going to Beat You Out of China,” provoked an outpouring of online venom that startled complacent expats. Even normally friendly Chinese seemed to reconsider their country’s hospitality to outsiders.

Wiser hands recalled another long, hot summer – back in 1999, after Nato forces bombed the Chinese Embassy in Belgrade, killing three. The US said it was a tragic accident; conspiracy theorists insisted otherwise (later European reports confirmed the building had indeed been deliberately targeted for rebroadcasting Yugoslav army transmissions). The officially condoned reaction saw the largest anti-foreign demonstrations in China since the May Fourth Movement of 1919; Chengdu’s US Embassy was partially burned and tens of thousands massed in Beijing’s embassy district; Americans found themselves accosted by strangers and even shunned by Chinese friends.

Journalist Paul Mooney was returning home in a taxi when he saw the lines of buses disgorging protesting students in Chaoyang district. “I walked to the US Embassy and got surrounded by 20-30 people. I thought, as a journalist, I would be viewed as neutral,” Mooney recalls. “But people were grabbing and poking me in the chest… a cop had to come and help me out of the crowd.” A mob formed around several Western embassies, throwing bottles and tiles. “I even saw a cop throwing rocks… I had to tell people I was Irish,” says Mooney, who walked home to “cries of “Fuck you” in English… it was really quite a nasty mood.”

Large-scale protests are extremely rare in Beijing but the government explicitly allowed the ’99 rallies. Historian Robert Bickers, an expert on Sino-British relations and author of “The Scramble for China: Foreign Devils in the Qing Empire,” says these incidents receive a disproportionate response, partly because they “create a safe space in which people can get angry” – especially if that rage is usually suppressed by the state.

Writing in Danwei, academic David Moser recalls meeting a Deng Xiaoping impersonator at a banquet on the evening of the 2001 collision between a US spy plane and a Chinese fighter jet over Hainan. After being mildly “scolded” by “Deng,” Moser watched the ersatz leader whip up the crowd with slogans like “We will stand up to American hegemony! We will never give up!” Fired up by the plane incident, Moser reckoned “this pseudo-Deng was bringing out very genuine cathartic feelings in this audience, enabling them to vent their frustration and outrage through a proxy spokesman who had more symbolic power than the current leadership did.”

The ruling Chinese Communist Party has taken action for years to boost nationalism. “After 1989, the government thought China was insufficiently patriotic,” Bickers says. “Since 1991, ‘patriotic education’ in China has seen children learning about the horrors of foreign imperialism… creating a sense that any criticism of China is from those who do not wish to see China strong.’

Jiang Zemin proclaimed that “Forgetting the humiliation of modern Chinese history means betraying your country.” September 18, which officially marks the Japanese invasion of Manchuria in 1931, was named National Humiliation Day and popular dictionaries and atlases of “national humiliation” exist today.

“Add together a 20-year history of state-sponsored nationalism, growing supposed economic supremacy, [China’s] slowly developing projections of itself abroad and the suspicions that engenders, and it easily spills into xenophobia,” Bickers concludes. Chiu thinks “unsound biases” among Chinese are “indisputable” but reckons “it is easier to deal with, because people here tell you what they think to your face, so at least you know.”

While this kind of honesty mostly involves being told that your nose is unusually large, flash-points can provoke unexpected anger. A Nigerian in Guangzhou who died while in police custody sparked protests from the local African community. Getting mad at the police is common-enough among China’s Han population, but the Africans taking it up did not go down well with local internet users, some of whom used racial epithets to condemn both the protest and the presence of Nigerian immigrants in the city.

Of course the vitriol is often amplified on the Web. David Wertime, an editor at Tea Leaf Nation, a website that analyses Chinese social media, said that while online “people proffer memorable or outlandish comments in order to be heard, or noticed, above the fray.” Still, virtually every foreigner has a personal yarn that demonstrates occasional, undisguised racial animosity. The most common involve a minor traffic incident that quickly escalates, authorities are called and the foreigner ends up having to agree to some kind of financial compensation.

I recently went to a police station in central Beijing after some friends got into a scrape involving a woman and a drunken foreigner. “I want 10,000 yuan. Why not? I'm not cheap,” seethed “Beibei,” who was wearing an obviously pricey outfit of a green shirt and hotpants. “I'm worth it.”

Earlier in the night, Beibei had been accosted by an Australian in a nightclub, which led to the scuffle. Two hours later, feeling wronged, Beibei was demanding revenge: in cash. And she had the bruises to prove it – although they were from an earlier fight that week with her American banker fiancé. Why not just use the courts, I asked. “My family knows all of them,” she replied. “I'd love to.”

Her friends rolled their eyeballs. She didn't need the money, they confided, but that much was obvious. On Sunday morning, five hours after the incident, Beibei and the Australian had reached an agreement: he would apologize and pay her 5,000 yuan she would drop all further claims. It wasn't cheap – but it was certainly worth it.

Whether it’s a shakedown over a nightclub dispute or a business deal that suddenly leaves the foreign partner high and dry (or worse, facing corruption charges), stories like these show a legal framework in which being non-Chinese is a distinct disadvantage. You can usually chalk this up to the typical tensions that expats might face in any foreign culture unless there’s been an incident in the news.

When anti-foreign feelings spikes, however, as it has the last two months, a question arises. “Are we seeing people's true sentiments?” wonders Wertime. “It's the question, broadly, of whether online speech, at a given time, is representative.”

The same question could also be applied to “foreignness.” News of the stabbing in Qianmen – as well as most incidents involving non-Chinese – was initially reported as having happened to a “foreigner,” a term that sounds provocative to Western ears. In fact, the word is “quite another matter in China,” says Bickers, where it can be used loosely to describe rivals from the next town, someone from another province or those who are considered to have lost their Chinese identity.

This is what happened to “collaborators” or “deracinated” Christian Chinese during the ill-fated 1896 Boxer Rebellion. Then, the Qing court offered quasi-support to the superstitious young anti-foreign fighters. This is “why people killed each other with such glee” during the period, Bickers explains.

Today, the Boxers are considered “patriotic fighters” in the official media, where, lately, even the most innocuous anti-foreigner story – such as a New Zealander pushing a child into a swimming pool – gets coverage. But is this juicy coverage of the small and large misdeeds of outsiders part of a larger campaign? “It’s possible,” says Wertime, noting that one notorious English-language newspaper editor has directed his reporters to actively seek out stories about expats misbehaving.

“When videos or images go viral, it puts pressure on mainstream sources to treat them as mainstream news,” argues Wertime. “This can have a democratising effect and increase transparency and media oversight; it can also lead to the explosion of stories that are probably not all that inherently consequential,” but which may have “real-world effects.”

Journalist Mooney is disturbed by what’s going on. Having lived in China since 1994, the award-winning reporter is pessimistic about future attitudes towards foreigners. “You’d think there’d be more integration but I don’t see that,” he said. “Every week, I meet Western NGOs or foreigners who are making contributions to China, helping to improve education, health care, and other areas. But we rarely see any of this reported in the Chinese media.

“Maybe if more of these things were reported, then Chinese would not have the paranoid feeling that the West is out to hold China back.”

Robert Foyle Hunwick   


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ASEAN - High Stakes in the South China Sea

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Coverage of the South China Sea territorial dispute has tended to paint the story as that of a giant China flexing its muscle over a handful of smaller Southeast Asian states.

But while China’s increasingly assertive behavior shows its willingness to exploit the weaknesses of other claimants, the picture is not as simple as it is often portrayed. Vietnam and the Philippines are pushing back against China, and many countries are stoking tensions in the sea. Together, their actions leave plenty of room for open conflict to break out.

Vietnam and the Philippines are no strangers to confronting China over the South China Sea. Vietnam and China fought two wars in the 1970s and 1980s over the Paracels, while China occupied a Philippine-claimed reef in the mid-1990s in the Spratlys. Tensions have run high again in recent years, driven by resource and strategic interests.

Beijing is more determined than ever to ensure that its Southeast Asia rivals do not come between it and its territorial claims. In the face of Beijing’s growing confidence, Hanoi and Manila are actively enlisting the aid of ASEAN and the United States.

Vietnam had some early success. Hanoi deftly outmaneuvered China, much to Beijing’s embarrassment, by championing the sovereignty issue on ASEAN’s agenda during its chairmanship of the organization in 2010. Its efforts culminated in U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s landmark speech that declared that the South China Sea was a U.S. “national interest.” The phrase was a rude awakening for China and, according to a Vietnamese diplomat, was a major reason that Beijing started taking Hanoi more seriously.

However, Hanoi and Manila’s efforts are now failing to convince China to tread more lightly. Beijing has simply upped the ante in response. The Philippines has also responded to  China’s claims by leaning on its military alliance with Washington, even going so far as to advocate interpreting the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty in a way that includes the South China Sea—a position the United States has yet to endorse.

Nor do bold steps always produce a persuasive show of force. Manila’s deployment of a warship to intercept Chinese vessels poaching in the disputed Scarborough Shoal in April began a standoff that was only broken by a typhoon. Hanoi’s passage of a maritime law in June, requiring foreign naval ships entering the disputed areas to notify Vietnamese authorities, was countered by Beijing’s creation of a centrally administered outpost in the South China Sea, Sansha City, complete with its own military garrison.
In this game of tit-for-tat, Vietnam and the Philippines are clearly vulnerable. ASEAN has been too divided as of late to be of much help. The diverging interests of individual ASEAN states have stalled negotiations over a code of conduct agreement with China. The end result was a diplomatic deadlock at this month’s foreign ministers’ meeting in Phnom Penh, the first time in the organization’s 45-year history that ASEAN members failed to issue a joint statement.

With no mechanisms to manage tensions and the prospects of a resolution diminishing, directly pushing back against Beijing seems to be an ever escalating gamble for Hanoi and Manila. But domestic demand in Vietnam and the Philippines for hydrocarbon and fish stock is eroding the longstanding restraints on conflict. Furthermore, rising nationalism and a reluctance to appear weak before their respective domestic audiences are nudging them towards greater confrontation with China as the latter enlarges its maritime footprint. High stakes coupled with an increase of tensions means that a misstep by either China or Southeast Asian claimants can all too easily escalate the dispute to irreversible levels.

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt

Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt is the Beijing-based China and Northeast Asia project director for the International Crisis Group. The International Crisis Group recently released the second in a series of reports in the South China Sea. You can read the report here.



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ASEAN Market Outlook

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Yesterday gains followed positive leads from Wall Street and Europe on Friday, while comments from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi Thursday on saving the euro were reinforced by Germany, France and Italy over the weekend.

Overnight in the USA Stocks finished mostly flat on Monday as investors paused following the best two-day run this year, with central bank meetings and a full load of U.S. economic data looming.

Traders have bet that the Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank will suggest further action to stimulate their economies is on the way when each meets later this week.

The sectors least sensitive to economic growth – telecoms, consumer staples and utilities – posted healthy gains, suggesting a cautious move to defensive plays.

Blue chips like Wal-Mart Stores (WMT.N) and AT&T (T.N) hit new 52-week highs. Wal-Mart rose 0.6 percent to end at $74.98 after hitting $75.24 earlier. AT&T added 0.8 percent to close at $37.43 after hitting $37.69.

Last week, a strong statement from ECB President Mario Draghi drove the Dow above 13,000 for the first time since early May, and gave the S&P 500 its biggest two-day rally since December.

Economist Shayne Heffernan has warned of a possible large fall late this week as Central Banks fail to live up to investor expectations.

Singapore

Singapore’s central bank, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), has recently released its annual report, the “MAS Annual Report 2011/12,” emphasizing its commitment to tackling inflation and maintaining high levels of investor confidence whilst closely monitoring the effects of the Eurozone on Singapore’s economy.

In its economic outlook, the MAS said that the republic’s core inflation is likely to moderate to close to historical average of 1.7% by the year-end. Headline inflation, on the other hand, is said to remain elevated due to high imputed rentals on owner-occupied homes and private road transport costs.

Nevertheless, MAS noted that the city-state remains on track to grow at 1 – 3% in 2012 provided that there is no recession in US, no significant escalation of the Eurozone crisis, and no “hard landing” in China.

Analysis by Rikvin shows that the projected growth of 1 – 3% this year will moderate and bring Singapore’s economic growth to a sustainable level. “This is necessary to relieve cost pressures as the country has witnessed an average growth of 5.8% over the last half-decade, well over its underlying potential. That’s why there are low levels of unemployment and high capacity utilization,” explained Mr. Satish Bakhda, Head of Operations at Rikvin, a Singapore company registration specialist.

There are already a few signs of inflation easing out. Electricity tariffs have fallen and domestic oil-related prices are stable now. Also, the 6% increase in domestic wages last year, which was passed on to a variety of services costs, is expected to be more restrained going forward.

The MAS also assured Singaporeans about the efficacy of the city-state’s exchange rate-centered monetary policy framework, which has come into question due to the persistence headline inflation. “As communicated by Mr. Ravi Menon, Managing Director of MAS, the exchange rate policy stance has had a restraining effect on inflation through two channels by filtering import prices, as well as by moderating economic activity in the export-oriented sectors. This policy remains our broadest and most effective anti-inflation tool as Singapore makes a transition towards productivity-driven growth,” added Mr. Bakhda.

MAS will be releasing the next monetary policy statement as scheduled in October this year.

Thailand

Industrial output in Thailand fell sharply in June and the central bank said monetary policy would probably remain easy to help factories continue their recovery from last year’s floods.

Output slid 9.6 percent from a year earlier, much worse than the 2.5 percent fall forecast in a Reuters poll. It grew a revised 6.0 percent in May, the first annual rise since the floods devastated industry last October..

On a monthly basis, output dropped 3.5 percent in June after a revised 14.3 percent increase in May, the Industry Ministry said.

The fall in output in June was largely due to a high comparative base a year earlier, after a rebound in production following supply chain disruptions caused by the earthquake and tsunami in Japan in March 2011.

Malaysia

The FBM KLCI index gained 7.41 points or 0.46% on Monday. The Finance Index increased 0.41% to 14714.56 points, the Properties Index up 0.29% to 1048.05 points and the Plantation Index rose 0.33% to 8745.82 points. The market traded within a range of 9.09 points between an intra-day high of 1632.35 and a low of 1623.26 during the session.

Actively traded stocks include PATIMAS, BIOSIS-WA, BIOSIS, HUBLINE, THHEAVY, IHH, GPRO, LUSTER, COMPUGT and THHEAVY-WA. Trading volume increased to 1229.09 mil shares worth RM1284.98 mil as compared to Friday’s 978.76 mil shares worth RM1710.21 mil.

Leading Movers were PETGAS (+130 sen to RM19.30), AXIATA (+5 sen to RM5.85), HLBANK (+34 sen to RM13.80), IOICORP (+4 sen to RM5.34) and CIMB (+3 sen to RM7.84). Lagging Movers were BAT (-158 sen to RM60.36), MAXIS (-8 sen to RM6.32), TENAGA (-3 sen to RM6.79), YTL (-1 sen to RM1.87) and UMW (-4 sen to RM9.46). Market breadth was positive with 426 gainers as compared to 305 losers.

Indonesia

Expressindo Transindo Utama, the operator of Express Taxi, is planning an overseas roadshow in the coming months, as part of its effort to draw investor interest for its shares in an initial public offering that is planned at the end of this year.

Stephen Sulistyo, managing director for business development and investment at Rajawali Corporation, which owns a controlling stake in Expressindo, said the roadshow’s planned destinations included Singapore, Hong Kong and Europe.

Hoesen, a director at the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX), said last Thursday that the bourse hoped Expressindo would sell more than 20 percent of its shares to the public. The IPO would mark the first time an Indonesian cab operator had listing on the IDX.

Details such as share price and the size of the sale haven’t been announced by Expressindo or Rajawali. Media reports have said that state brokerage Mandiri Sekuritas and JPMorgan Indonesia have been appointed as the underwriters for the IPO.

Sulistyo said Expressindo planned to use the proceeds to help finance its fleet expansion. The group aims to boost its taxi operation to 8,000 units this year. The company currently owns 7,000 taxis.

“We aim to reach our target of owning a total of 15,000 cabs,” he said.

Expressindo was established in 1989 and today says that it controls a 19 percent share of the taxi market across the country. It also provides car rental and fleet management services.

Its biggest rival is the Blue Bird Group, which started with 25 cabs in 1972 and now has a fleet of around 21,000 and is the biggest taxi company in the country.

Expressindo, which operates taxis in Greater Jakarta, also has transportation services in other cities, including Medan, Surabaya, Semarang as well as on Bali and Lombok islands.

Its Tiara Express offers premium taxi services to customers in the Jakarta area.

Privately held Rajawali, created in 1984, is controlled by billionaire Peter Sondakh. The Jakarta-based company has interests in hotels, cement, consumer goods, retail, transportation and department stores across the country.

Philippines

The peso slightly fell on the first trading day of the week following the release of a report over the weekend that the US economy grew by a slower pace in the second quarter.

The local currency closed at 41.93 against the US dollar on Monday, down by 3 centavos from Friday’s finish of 41.90:$1.

Intraday high hit 41.81:$1, while intraday low settled at 41.96:$1. Volume of trade amounted to $985.10 million from $837.65 million previously.

The depreciation of the peso came after the US government reported that the world’s biggest economy grew by only 1.5 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. This was slower than the 2-percent growth registered in the first quarter.

Traders said the decelerated growth of the US economy was deemed by some investors as an indication that the global economy would remain relatively week, at least over the short term. As such, emerging markets like the Philippines are seen to also partly suffer in the form of anemic export revenues.

Slowdown in the US economy is also seen to drag growth of emerging markets through other channels, such as investments and remittances.

·         Tokyo closed up 0.80 percent, or 68.80 points, at 8,635.44, Sydney gained 0.85 percent, or 35.9 points, to 4,245.7 and Seoul also climbed 0.80 percent, adding 14.63 points to 1,843.79.

·         Hong Kong rose 1.61 percent, or 310.44 points, to 19,585.40 but Shanghai was down 0.89 percent, or 18.85 points, at 2,109.91.

·         Taipei rose 0.48 percent, or 34.39 points, to 7,158.88.

Formosa Plastics added 0.62 percent to Tw$81.4 while Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. was 0.38 percent lower at Tw$79.0.

·         Manila closed 1.12 percent higher, gaining 58.35 points to 5,277.90.

Metropolitan Bank and Trust added 1.95 percent to 96.80 pesos while Philippine Long Distance Telephone rose 0.22 percent to 2,704 pesos.

·         Wellington added 0.50 percent, or 17.60 points, to 3,518.89.

Fletcher Building was up 1.01 percent at NZ$6.02, Telecom rose 2.55 percent to NZ$2.61 and The Warehouse was steady at NZ$2.58.

·         Jakarta was up 0.37 percent, or 14.91 points, to 4,099.12.

Car maker Astra rose 0.75 percent to 6,700 rupiah while Indocement gained 3.3 percent to 20,150 rupiah.

·         Bangkok was up 1.30 percent, or 15.31 points, to 1,193.32.

Banpu gained 2.01 percent to 406 baht, while PTT added 1.55 percent to 327 baht.

·         Kuala Lumpur closed up 0.46 percent, or 7.41 points, at 1,632.35.

Plantation group Sime Darby gained 0.10 percent to 9.83 ringgit, while Telekom Malaysia added 1.06 percent to 5.72 ringgit.

·         Singapore closed up 1.14 percent, or 34.31 points, at 3,032.80.

DBS Bank was up 0.61 percent to Sg$14.74 and Singapore Telecom was 2.01 percent higher at Sg$3.55.

·         Mumbai rose 1.81 percent, or 304.49 points, to 17,143.68.

State Bank of India was up 4.63 percent at 2,031.05 rupees while Tata Motors rose 4.16 percent to 221.65.



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Australia - Reader riposte - South China Sea and ASEAN

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Michael Wesley's Snapshot, What's at stake in the South China Sea, contains three major assertions and one policy recommendation that I take issue with.

Wesley's first assertion is that China claims the South China Sea as its territorial waters and this would restrict the passage of United States warships. China's 1992 Law on Territorial Sea only claimed 12 nautical miles of territorial waters around the Paracel and Spratly islands. China did not issue a map showing the baselines around individual islands and rocks. Also China did not claim a regime of islands; the inference that China has claimed the entire South China Sea as its territorial waters is one drawn by US Navy legal specialists.

In 2009, China officially tabled a map of the South China Sea containing nine dashes forming a u-shape line embracing over 80% of the South China Sea. China claims historic rights to this area. In recent years China has claimed sovereignty over the islands, rocks and their adjacent waters. This year China's Foreign Ministry stated that no country, presumably including China, claims the entire South China Sea.

Wesley's second assertion, which is closely related to his first, is that China has challenged shipping in the South China Sea. China has not interfered with commercial shipping. In 2011, Chinese civilian ships were involved in three incidents involving oil exploration vessels in waters where China's u-shaped line overlapped with the Exclusive Economic Zones of the Philippines and Vietnam. These incidents did not take place in shipping lanes and have not been repeated.

In 2009, China was also involved in one incident involving a US military ship (USNS Impeccable) conducting close-in surveillance in the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) off Hainan Island. China and the United States fundamentally disagree about the conduct of military activities in a state's EEZ under international law. This incident did not take place in an international shipping lane and has not been repeated.

Wesley's third assertion is that China refuses to discuss the South China Sea in any regional meeting and China will only negotiate if ASEAN abandons the search for a common position. In fact ASEAN has already arrived at a common position and Chinese officials have met with ASEAN counterparts to discuss the modalities of future discussions.

The ASEAN Foreign Ministers unanimously adopted the key elements of a Code of Conduct in the South China Sea at their ministerial meeting  in July. China officially stated it is willing to discuss the code of conduct with ASEAN members 'when conditions are ripe'. At the same time, Chinese and ASEAN senior officials informally met twice to discuss the ASEAN draft code of conduct. Formal discussions are tentatively set for September with a goal of completing the talks by November.

Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa's recently conducted an intense round of shuttle diplomacy. As a result of his initiative all ASEAN foreign ministers agreed to supportASEAN's Six Principles on the South China Sea and are now committed to intensifying consultations on the code of conduct.

Wesley concludes his Snapshot by proposing that Australia launch a new initiative to help resolve South China Sea disputes. He supports his proposal by arguing because the United States supports a unified ASEAN position this will make the code of conduct less palatable to Beijing and Australia contributes nothing to resolving the dispute by backing the US and ASEAN.

I would like to suggest three policy proposals. Given that China has played on differences within ASEAN to advance its interests, now more than ever ASEAN needs the backing of its dialogue partners. Wesley's policy proposal is likely to add confusion to the ASEAN diplomatic process at best and weaken ASEAN in its dealing with China at worst.

·         Indonesia's recent intervention put ASEAN-China discussions on a code of conduct back on track. Now is the time for Australia to let ASEAN take the lead and for Australia to provide diplomatic support. A preferable option for Australia would be to join the United States and other like-minded ASEAN dialogue partners (Japan, South Korea, New Zealand, Canada, the European Union and India) in giving their full support to ASEAN.
·         A second option for an Australian diplomatic role is for Australia and Malaysia, as co-chairs of the Expert Working Group on Maritime Security established under the ASEAN Defence Ministers Meeting Plus, to continue their quiet work of developing practical proposals to enhance maritime security in the South China Sea.
·         Finally, a third option for Australia would be for the government to finally make a firm decision on developing and funding a credible conventional submarine force to cooperate with the United States to maintain stability in the South China Sea.



Business & Investment Opportunities 
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Malaysia - Time for Asean to stand together

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China is claiming more of the South China Sea as its own. Unfortunately, China’s territorial pretensions clash with separate claims by Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

SANSHA City is China’s newest municipality. Extending over two square kilometres and with 613 residents, Sansha City has its own mayor, sea and airport, supermarket, as well as a People’s Liberation Army (PLA) garrison.

Established on the Yongxing or “Woody” Island in the Paracel Islands of the South China Sea, the municipality represents a bold assertion of Chinese control.

Sadly in the face of such brute determination, Asean has merely whimpered.

Indeed, earlier this month at the normally-staid Asean Foreign Ministers’ Meeting in Phnom Penh, the grouping revealed its ineffectiveness and lack of unity in the face of high-level lobbying from Chinese and American officials when the association failed to produce a joint communique at the conclusion of the meeting.

In short, we are in danger of becoming passive participants in the new “Great Game” – the geopolitical face-off between China and the United States.

Unsurprisingly, the main point of contention was the South China Sea, with its overlapping territorial claims, historical grudges and energy politics all jumbled up.

China claims most of the South China Sea as its own.

Unfortunately, China’s territorial pretensions clash with separate claims by Vietnam, Brunei, Malaysia and the Philippines.

The contest is heightened because of two factors – the importance of the trading routes and the vast natural resources under the sea itself – estimated to be as much as 213 billion barrels of oil and two quadrillion cubic feet of natural gas.

China, unsurprisingly, has always been quick to assert its rights.

It clashed with Vietnam in 1974 over the Paracel Islands and came dangerously close to repeating the experience with the Philippines earlier this year when their navies engaged in a tense stand-off near the Scarborough Shoal.

A more Asia-focused United States has weighed in to support its former Philippine colony.

Troop deployments in Australia and improved relations with Myanmar and Vietnam have created a potentially explosive mix.

Meanwhile, Asean is little more than the proverbial (and increasingly scared) mousedeer caught between two feuding elephants.

In many ways, though, Asean’s indecisiveness is perhaps unsurprising.

It’s further proof that there’s little holding us together – besides the overly confident boosterism of the business community seeking to establish a unified market of over 600 million consumers.

For decades, we’ve paid lip-service to the grouping whilst pulling our separate ways.

Now, when we really need to fend off Great Power interference, we’re confronted by our lack of cohesiveness and disunity.

In short, all the golf and durian diplomacy has floundered and we’re stuck in a veritable “bunker”.

On the one hand, Cambodia’s refusal to endorse a joint communiqué at the meeting reflected its near-total economic reliance on China.

According to news reports, the Cambodian Foreign Minister Hor Namhong’s manner didn’t help matters either.

Meanwhile, Vietnam and the Philippines have been forced to balance their historical antipathy towards China with the reality of the Middle Kingdom’s proximity and sheer might.

Indonesia (mindful of its own size) appears to view the deadlock as an opportunity to demonstrate its regional leadership credentials.

As a consequence, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono directed his Foreign Minister, Marty Natelgawa to tour Asean in search of a fresh consensus on the issue.

For Malaysia and Singapore, the South China Sea impasse requires extreme delicacy.

As multiracial trading nations, both must assert their sovereignty and Asean credentials without alienating China.

Still, Asean must deal with contemporary realities.

Whilst we’ve been a diplomatic backwater for decades, the economically resilient grouping is no longer under the radar screen.

As one of the few economically robust regions, we’re now front and centre – besides which, with China on the rise, we’re geopolitically important.

This is all very dramatic and fun to read about but in reality it’s a painful headache as China and the United States stalk one another warily.

Let’s face it: the “Asian Century” is going to be fraught with danger and insecurity and I haven’t even begun to discuss the increasingly erratic and dysfunctional Chinese foreign policy and military apparatus.

The core issue is – do we “hang” together or go our separate ways?

We in Asean need to resolve this fundamental challenge.

Do we promote and implement “regional integration” as well as the “Asean community” or do we cut deals with China one-on-one?

The South China Sea is crunch time for Asean, and Malaysia.

We can either continue dithering and be reduced to pawns on a chessboard, or band together to show the world that we intend to live up to our geopolitical promise as well.

The choice is ours – but I guess it’ll have to wait until after the General Election. Sigh...

KARIM RASLAN


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Jul 30, 2012

Vietnam - A new ginger species discovered in Vietnam

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VietNamNet Bridge – Scientists have made public their discovery of a new black ginger species, an endemic species of Vietnam.

The new ginger species is named Distichochlamys benenica Q.B. Nguyen & Škorničk. It was discovered by Vietnamese and Singaporean scientists in the Ben En National Park in the central province of Thanh Hoa in April 2011.

Dr. Nguyen Quoc Binh, a member of the research group, said this is the fourth species of Distichochlamys black ginger in Vietnam.

Earlier, the first black ginger species was found out at the Bach Ma National Park in the central province of Thua Thien-Hue in 1995, the second in the Central Highlands province of Gia Lai in 2001 and the third at the Cuc Phuong National Park in the northern province of Ninh Binh in 2003.

Dr. Binh said that the standard specimen of the newly-discovered species is now preserved at the Vietnam Nature Museum.

“Black ginger is considered the endemic species of Vietnam because it has never been found in any country in the world, even in Vietnam’s neighboring countries like China, Laos and Cambodia,” Binh stressed.

Zingiberaceae are a family of flowering plants consisting of aromatic perennial herbs with creeping horizontal or tuberous rhizomes, comprising of about 52 genera and more than 1300 species, distributed throughout tropical Africa, Asia, and the Americas.

Members of the family are small to large herbaceous plants with distichous leaves with basal sheaths that overlap to form a pseudostem. The plants are either self-supporting or epiphytic. Flowers are hermaphroditic, usually strongly zygomorphic, in determinate cymose inflorescences, and subtended by conspicuous, spirally arranged bracts. The perianth is composed of two whorls, a fused tubular calyx, and a tubular corolla with one lobe larger than the other two. Flowers typically have two of their stamenoids (sterile stamens) fused to form a petaloid lip, and have only one fertile stamen. The ovary is inferior and topped by two nectaries, the stigma is funnel-shaped.

Compile by P. Linh


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Vietnam - People-founded, local universities fear there’s not enough students to enroll

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VietNamNet Bridge – While leading universities have been spoilt for choice because a lot of students dream of studying at the renowned schools, other universities, especially people founded and local universities, fear they may not enroll enough students.

Nguyen Tien Dung, Head of the Training Division of the HCM City University of Technical Education, said the most of the candidates attending the entrance exams to the school got the marks from 13 to 17, while the school plans to enroll 3500 students this year.

948 students of the school got 17 marks and higher, 3640 students got 14 marks and higher, while 4884 got 13 and higher. Dung said that the school would think carefully to set up reasonable required benchmarks (the minimum marks students must get from the university entrance exams to be able to study at the schools they want).

However, he said that the school would reserve some seats for the students who register to study at the school as their second choice. Under the current regulations, the students who do not have the marks high enough to be able to study at the schools they want, may register to study at other schools as their second or third choices.

The HCM City University of Technology has decided that examinees must have at least 16 marks to register to study at the school. If so, 4000 students would fail to study at the school.

Nguyen Thanh Nam, Head of the Training Division of the school, said that the 4000 students would be a profuse supply source for other schools. The HCM City University of Technology itself would also look for 150 students for the junior college training system (3-year training) from the source.

According to Hua Minh Tuan, Head of the Training Division of the HCM City Finance -Marketing University, 10,322 students got 13 marks and higher out of the 27,000 examinees. Therefore, the minimum required mark would be no less than 16. As such, the school would refuse a high number of students, who got 13-15.5 marks and would be able to study at other schools.

13 is expected to be the minimum required marks students must have to be able to register study at any university in Vietnam, called the “floor mark.” The floor mark is announced every year by the Ministry of Education and Training to which schools refer to enroll students.

Similarly, the Saigon University also said a lot of students would not be eligible for studying at the school, which could be the targeted students for other schools.

Schools worried stiff

Though less prestigious schools understand that they can find students from the ones who failed the exams to reputable schools, they still fear they cannot find enough students.

The HCM City Culture University plans to enroll 1330 students, while only 1359 students attended the entrance exams. Meanwhile, it is expected that only 700 students pass the exams to the school, which means that the school still needs to find the other 50 percent of quota from other sources.

Pham Thai Son, Deputy Head of the Training Division of the HCM City Food Industry University, also said that 3758 out of the 19,000 students got the marks equal or higher than the 2011’s floor marks. Therefore, the required benchmarks are believed to be low, just equal to the floor marks. However, even with the low requirements, the school still fears it would lack students for some majors.

People founded schools prove to be the ones which most worry about the lack of students. The Hong Bang International University plans to receive 2200 students, but only 1188 students attended the entrance exams. Meanwhile, only 100 students can meet the requirements to be able to study there. This means that the school would have to seek students from other sources.

Source: NLD


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Vietnam - Car parking lots, shops, supermarkets cut parks into small pieces

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VietNamNet Bridge – Parks and lakes in Hanoi have become narrower, giving place to car parking lots, shops and convenience stores. Hanoians have to lead a busy industrial life and they do not have fresh air to breathe.

Where have the parks gone?

“Car, motorbike keeping service, 24/24” – a lot of boards with the words are being hung in the Tuoi Tre Park area. The entrance door to the park on Thanh Nhan Street is hidden behind the coaches and the billboards. The Van Tue Restaurant is located just 50 meters far from the entrance door. There is also the entrance to Fivimart supermarket. If going further by 20 meters, one would see the land areas which have been used as car keeping lots.

What are there inside the park? A karaoke shop Jaguarudi, Tuoi Tre café, Tuoi Tre Thu Do Wedding Party Restaurant, Queen Bee II restaurant and Cung Xuan Restaurant. Tens of cars were seen standing close to each other around the Vo Thi Sau statuary.

Nguyen Hanh Ly, a local resident said that in the past, she got up early and went to the park to do some physical exercises. She had to make his way through the cars, motorbikes and sniffed the smoke. Therefore, she has decided to stay at home to avoid the smoke.

Tuoi Tre Park is not alone. A lot of other parks like Thu Le, Indira Gandhi (the Thanh Cong Lake Park) are facing the same problem: they have been cut into small pieces to give space to restaurants, trade centers for commercial purposes.

Two imposing buildings - Petrotimes Building and Phuong Dong Hotel – stand right in front of the entrance of the Thanh Cong Lake Park. A café has been set up inside the park.

The Thu Le Park has also been surrounded by cafes, restaurants, entertainment areas, tennis playing grounds.

Nguyen Hoai Nam, a Hanoian, compared Thanh Cong Lake with a “village’s small pond” when it is located next to the multistory buildings. He has warned that the same thing would also occur with the Hoan Kiem Lake in the center of Hanoi, if the project on Power Building is implemented.

Local authorities powerless?

Hanoi authorities, which first reported the problems at the Thu Le Park 4-5 years ago, ordered to destroy all the construction items encroaching on the campus of the park. However, the works still have been existed for the last many years.

Hanoians have been complaining about the violations at the Tuoi Tre Park for the last 10 years. The case was also many times put on the agenda of the city’s people’s committee and people’s council. However, no improvement has been made so far.

Hanoi’s Vice Mayor Nguyen Van Khoi has admitted that most of the construction works built inside the park from 2001 to 2007 were not licensed. Khoi said in 2007, the city’s localities requested relevant ministries to force to destroy the illegal items, including the restaurant, tennis service house, storehouse, and some others.

No one can say for sure when the instructions can be implemented. The Hai Ba Trung district’s authorities have been simply reprimanded for being slow in dealing with the problem, while the Hanoi Construction Department has not well supervised and speed up the implementation of the works.

Khoi said the city’s budget is not big enough to invest in parks and lakes. Meanwhile, it is very difficult for the city to call for the society’s investment, because investors would only spend money when they can make profit.

Thanh Phuong


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